The Places in Between

By: Rory Stewart

Narrated by: Rory Stewart

Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

In January 2002, Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan, surviving by his wits, his knowledge of Persian dialects and Muslim customs, and the kindness of strangers. By day, he passed through mountains covered in nine feet of snow, hamlets burned and emptied by the Taliban, and communities thriving amid the remains of medieval civilizations. By night he slept on villagers' floors, shared their meals, and listened to their stories of the recent and ancient past. Along the way Stewart met heroes and rogues, tribal elders and teenage soldiers, Taliban commanders, and foreign-aid workers. He was also adopted by an unexpected companion: a retired fighting mastiff he named Babur in honor of Afghanistan's first Mughal emperor, in whose footsteps the pair was following. Through these encounters, by turns touching, confounding, surprising, and funny, Stewart makes tangible the forces of tradition, ideology, and allegiance that shape life in the map's countless "places in between".

©2006 Rory Stewart (P)2006 Recorded Books LLC

Critic reviews

"An engrossing, surprising, and often deeply moving portrait of the land and the peoples who inhabit it." (Booklist)
"The well-oiled apparatus of his writing mimics a dispassionate camera shutter in its precision." (Publishers Weekly)
"If, finally, you're determined to do something as recklessly stupid as walk across a war zone, your surest bet to quash all the inevitable criticism is to write a flat-out masterpiece. Stewart did. Stewart has." (The New York Times)

Understanding Afghanistan.

If you want to gain some insight into the country of Afghanistan and the problems of resolving the power struggles in the Middle East, this book is a must-read. Rory Stewart not only brilliantly narrates the story of his walk across this enigmatic country, he also characterizes the way the well-meaning interference of Western nations has done little good and much bad for the stability of the area. But beyond that, the story is gripping, passionate, and compassionate, a true hero's quest in the style of the ancient epics. I have listened to this book four times, and I could listen to it many more. The pace of Stewart's narrative mimics the walking pace, and the listener feels like a silent companion to his journey. One of the best books I've ever read.

Good book.

It took awhile to get into the book. Interesting and frightening situations and characters along the way.

you are a f---ing nutter

stewart is an elegant british/scottish story teller
a fellow brit labels him "a f---ing nutter" and it fits
the book title suits the story and the author

the places in between
the things left unsaid
the challenges to conventional wisdom

the ability to stand up to bullies
the detection of a lie no matter how elegant
the willingness to endure in order to taste the truth

he believes his only true peers are ancient writers
quoted references are routinely from 4 or more centuries ago
he seeks a wisdom and perspective deeper than modern life provides

are parts embellished or fabricated ? probably
is he concerned with a "top 40" audience ? not at all
is it a wonderful awe inspiring book ? yes

he allegedly just got elected to british parliament
i suspect he is on his way to well promoted career
he brings you with him every insightful step of the way

It's eye-opening, but also eye-closing...

It's a story about a people we (in the West) don't hear about, and a culture we know nothing about. From that standpoint it's an important book.

Being a true story, however, there is a limit to the narrative, and that comes across fairly quickly in that the story becomes a succession of the same event happening over and over again. It's hard to escape because it's about a man doing the same thing every day from the beginning to the end of the book. He's travelling through a different culture, but there isn't a lot of variation in the culture of the people he meets during the journey.

The performance was good. Usually authors aren't the best narrators, but in this case Mr. Stewart was very easy to listen to.

Overall I'm glad I listened, but it got a little tedious towards the end.

Interesting, educational and moving.

This book is an amazing eyeopener as the US prepares to escalate our military commitment to Afghanistan. Mr Stewart's experiences clearly illustrates the logistical nightmare that is Afghanistan. The lives of the average Afghan is almost like going back in time. This country is full of poor, illiterate, isolated people who are none the less hospitable to a total stranger, sharing their very meager resources with him.
If I have any quarrel with Stewart it is that someone from such wealth and privilege (Dragon and Oxford) begging the bread out of the mouths of people so desperate and on the edge.
I am trying to imagine the success of travelling across this country the same way. "I have a letter of recommendation from your State Senator, may I have a nights lodgings and dinner?" Even though most of us have guest bedrooms and plenty of food, how many of us would open our doors?
I like when authors of non-fiction read their own works. While he doesn't do different voices or emote- he is British after all- it is more important to me to have the accuracy and first person account than showmanship. Their is one very emotional aspect to the book, that added to the story, but I wont go into it in the review. Just say it increased my interest in finishing the book to the very end.

Entertaining and enlightening!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book because not only is it entertaining and informative but also revealing of a person with deep insight into human nature, empathy toward diversity of ethnic groups and love of animals

What other book might you compare The Places in Between to and why?

"Three Cups of Tea" because it introduces peoples from the region with understanding, thereby dispelling prejudiced views due to generalizations based on the tragedy of 9/11.

What does Rory Stewart bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The warmth of his personal experiences so evident in his narration.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, and since that could not take place, I looked forward to every opportunity to enjoy it.

Any additional comments?

I wish Rory Stewart wrote more books.

Rory Rocks

Great writer and narrator. I've listened to this book twice and intend a third. it is my book club selection for sure.

Nice Choice

This book provides a glimpse into a deeply foreign culture almost all of us will never see or penetrate otherwise. Afghanistan may be a desperately poor, largely illiterate country, but that doesn't tell the whole story. If you want to learn a little more about the complexity of modern Afghanistan, Rory Stuart is a good guide. He's not an apologist for the Taliban or some kind of latter day neo-colonialist, he generally just tells his story straight and lets you draw your own conclusions. Nor is this some incredible adventure story filled with narrow escapes and tales of daring do. Stuart knows he is doing something incredibly dangerous but is very matter-of-fact about the whole thing, even when he comes close to getting killed.

The perspective is somewhat unusual, in that he's walking from village to village, and in each spot he picks up little bits of the culture and the people and shares them as he goes. So the picture that emerges is never fully formed, not completely linear or organized. He doesn't pre-digest and organize everything for you. Yet somehow by the end of the book, you feel as though you've learned something of the place and its people, something you could have only learned through his unique perspective.

Read by the author himself and he does a nice job with it.

Well done

Any additional comments?

I was immediately taken by this story and the reader's presentation. The reader (if not the writer himself) does an amazing job with tone and pacing -- I wasn't just listening, I was THERE with him, walking side by side. I lent the audiobook to one friend and soon had three others knocking on my office door, forming a queue! That has never happened before. This is an extraordinary listen where the total is not just more than the sum of the parts, but something mesmerizing and unforgettable.

Highly Informative

Any additional comments?

This book is a must-read for people wanting to know more about Afghan culture. Rory Stewart is a Scottish historian and writer who culminates a walk across the Middle East with a roughly month-long walk across Afghanistan in the weeks immediately following the fall of the Taliban. He walks through deserts, mountains and valleys. He meets new government officials and soldiers, simple village folk, mullahs, Taliban-loving villagers, etc. He only survived because he spoke Persian, was respectful of Afghan culture, and was given a dog for protection in remote and dangerous areas. After reading this, I realize more than ever that Afghanistan is a bit of every stereotype. He encountered jihadists (quite few in comparison) and peaceful villagers who didn’t even know about the United States. It is a misunderstood country that needs to be met with fresh eyes.